


Wager (a Hunnigan's DSO file)

by musetraxed (muselives)



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22945741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muselives/pseuds/musetraxed
Summary: Helena Harper and Sherry Birkin make a friendly wager.
Kudos: 4
Collections: Hunnigan's DSO





	Wager (a Hunnigan's DSO file)

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-RE6, prior to [Safe for Christmas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22822288/). Additional details in the collection profile. Story edited only by myself, all mistakes my own.

Some things held true across all DOD outfits, like the fact that the break room coffee sucked and no amount of powdered creamer could change the fact that the last eight ounces had probably been baking on ‘warm’ since noon.

Helena Harper dumped a generous amount in anyway. It was part of the ritual, like ineffectively stirring it with the little plastic one-use stick that was stocked next to the pot.

The two hour debrief with the director and the FBI liason had just about killed her motivation to do anything else productive today. Luckily, she’d already requested some time off after her last op with Leon.

The mission had come at Director Hunnigan’s personal request. Helena remembered watching her partner take the call and ribbing him later for it on their flight. “ _You always make me take calls from FOS._ ” Even though they had been assigned one tech from the start, Leon would literally hand his phone over to her rather than talk to John. She knew why this was different but she got a certain kick out of making her partner acknowledge it.

Which she’d managed by staring a hole in the side of his head, even though he’d already closed his eyes. He’d broken down eventually, cracked one eye and tried, “ _It’s the director,_ ” before going back to sleep.

But it wasn’t the title, no matter what Leon said. Helena knew it was more about the woman behind it, her partner’s former support tech of almost ten years, an agency legend in her own right. She knew he picked up because it was Hunnigan on the line.

She was still trying to dissolve the last of the powdered cream when Sherry Birkin rounded the door. Helena was quick enough to get the coffee to the counter, bringing her arms up and ready for the other woman’s enthusiastic hug.

“Hey Sherry,” she chuckled into the blond woman’s shoulder as they embraced.

Technically the more senior DSO agent and also a few years Helena’s elder, Sherry still felt a lot more like a younger sister to her, a thought that didn’t hurt as much as it had in the dark weeks after she had lost Deborah to Simmons. Getting her badge back and transferring to the DSO had kept her from falling into a dark place--but Sherry specifically was a real light and a much better friend then Helena thought she deserved.

“I just heard you got back!” Sherry broke off and pulled back smiling. “How long are you in DC?”

“Couple of days. I put in my time while we were handing off the scene.” If only to force Leon to take a few days for himself. She gave the other woman a smirk. “He’s still in the director’s office before you ask.”

“Ah. Who’d I see leave just now?”

“FBI. He was here when we came up to debrief.” Now that greetings were over, Helena retrieved her coffee and blew away some of the steam before taking a sip. She grimaced but didn’t stop until she’d taken a long pull from the styrofoam cup. “The director seems pretty serious about turning over all leads to the Bureau once we’ve ruled out an active threat.”

Nodding, Sherry went for the water fountain, filling up a travel mug she must have brought from her desk. “She’s definitely got a different perspective on things, coming from FOS. I know she’s also trying to get the BSAA to agree to more overseas cooperation after Lanshiang.”

“What, that time Captain Redfield tried to kill us?” Helena said wryly, blowing on her coffee again. “Water under the bridge.”

Needling her friends was one of her great vices. It was hard to give up especially when Sherry gave her that look. “Chris wasn’t trying to kill you.”

Helena dropped her head and gave her friend a look. “Maybe not but he was pissed that Leon was ready to protect Ada Wong.” Or _fake-Ada_ as she’d taken to calling Carla Redmames, the woman who had been genetically altered to pass as the infamous mercenary, all for Simmon’s pleasure. She couldn’t exactly blame the woman for going mad, trying to both ruin and kill the former national security advisor.

“He wasn’t even trying to kill Jake,” the other DSO agent added distractedly as she sipped from her mug.

This was one point on which Helena had learned not to tease. Professional pride and personal curiosity had her researching through the DSO archives when she’d finally been brought on. She’d learned everything they had been willing to share on Albert Wesker and the other parties involved in the Raccoon City incident. Things in Lanshiang seemed to have been pretty personal for all of them, especially her; she really wasn’t going to hold it against Captain Redfield that he’d been opposed to them trying to bring Ada in for one attack while he was trying to detain her for another.

But Jake Muller, Albert Wesker’s son, had also fallen to the phenomenon Helena called ‘the Sherry Birkin effect’. If any of them had a right to be pissed and angry at the world, she was pretty sure the person who came out ahead in that race was Sherry. And yet the young woman was unfailingly kind, dutiful, determined, and optimistic. It made everyone soft for her. Hell, it made Muller soft enough to back down on his asking price for his blood _and_ all current reports said he was hunting BOWs seemingly just to make the world a better place.

But that was the Sherry effect for you. Helena smiled into her cup as she took another pull. Whatever she and Muller had gone through together had clearly left her with a bit of a crush, one that was too tender to poke fun at--so Helena didn’t.

Instead, she let her sense of humor switch to an absent target. “Anyway, assuming Leon hasn’t finally got the nerve to ask Director Hunnigan out, I’m sure he’ll be passing through any minute now.”

Part of her felt bad that Sherry choked on her drink in the proverbial spit take. The rest of her was darkly amused that the idea had so totally caught the other woman off-guard. 

“ _What?_ ” Sherry squeaked once she had finished pounding her chest.

“Oh, come on, I can’t be the only person who thought they were already--” Helena caught herself in time to modify her language since the break room door was open. She made a non-committal gesture with her empty hand, and finished the thought with the broad euphemism, “Together.”

Sherry looked from her to the open door then back to her as she moved to stand next to her, leaning against the counter. “You really thought Leon and the director…?”

“Well, she wasn’t the director until recently. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s absolutely the right person for the job, but I guess if they weren’t together before, it’d be pretty hard for them to start anything now.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t think… I mean, Leon’s never said anything…” She stopped and looked at the other woman. “Has he?”

“No,” she admitted, “But it’s not what he says that I’m going off of. He gets a certain way about her, like when he takes a call from her or we’re headed up to her office. He didn’t exactly read me a riot act when I left him there with her.” She finished off the coffee and tossed her cup into the garbage. “Even if they’re not like that, they have to be pretty close. They’ve known each other ten years.”

“I don’t know.” She got a faraway look and chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. “We’ve only just started catching up after everything. He keeps up with Claire a little bit but I think he mostly just loses himself in his work.”

“That’s not surprising but it also proves my point. His whole life is this place. I think Hunnigan is just as focused.”

That got a smile from Sherry. “You call her that too?”

Helena fought off a blush. “Well, no. I shouldn’t anyway. But you know what I mean.” They fell into a moment of silence and when she looked over again, she realized Sherry actually looked glum. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh,” she tried to wave it off but her smile didn’t quite recover. “I know it’s silly but… Leon was there for me and Claire after Raccoon City. I remember being a kid and thinking… maybe they could be my family.”

There wasn’t any ready-made answer for that. Fortunately, the silence wasn’t really that uncomfortable as Sherry drank her water and Helena turned over that piece of information in her head. Leon was a little thick sometimes but her partner wasn’t a pushover. He was loyal, maybe too loyal, caught up in whatever weird entanglement he had with Ada Wong. But if he wanted something, once he realized it, she couldn’t imagine it’d be too hard to tell.

Maybe he hadn’t acted on any feelings for Claire in fifteen years because they’d taken such different paths since Raccoon City. Maybe Sherry being back in both their lives would give him a reason to take that chance, if he had a little push.

Or maybe, Helena thought, glancing at the still empty hallway, her hunch was right and Leon’s interests would break another way if given a friendly nudge.

“Tell you what,” she heard herself say to Sherry, “I’ve got a wager for you.”

The quirk of Sherry’s smile was a little wry but she seemed genuinely interested when she asked, “OK, what is it?”

“Ask Claire and Leon to come to the fancy dress winter holiday party in a few weeks. No one can say no to you.” She gave the other woman a wink and felt no small amount of satisfaction when Sherry blushed. “I’ll make sure Director Hunnigan will be there. Leon’s not a hard read. If he’s into either one of them, I’ll bet we’ll be able to tell. And if he’s not into either, no big deal. We’ll all get to dress up and eat free food, and I’ll make sure you have someone to dance with.”

She stuck out her hand to shake on it. To her credit, Sherry only seemed to need another moment to shake and she looked genuinely amused before she broke into giggles.

“What?” Helena asked, smiling despite herself

Sherry’s mischievous smile brought a certain light to her eyes. “Leon’s going to have to wear a suit.”

The mental image hit her and Helena broke out in a wolf’s grin.

Naturally, that was when Leon showed up. His distracted expression gave way to a smile as Sherry launched herself at him for a hug.

Helena got to stand back and enjoy the two of them catching up. Oh yeah, she thought to herself as she watched Sherry talk animatedly while her partner just smiled, this office shindig was going to be fun.


End file.
